Most B2B buyers don’t fill out a form, request a demo, or speak to sales until they’re nearly 70% through their decision-making process. By the time they “raise their hand,” they’ve already identified the problem, scoped out potential solutions, compared vendors, and narrowed the field, without ever interacting with your brand.
Welcome to the silent phase of the B2B buyer journey.
It’s the most overlooked part of the process. But it’s also the most influential. Buyers are active, just not in ways that show up in your CRM. If your marketing strategy doesn’t account for this phase, you’re likely losing deals before you even knew they existed.
What Is the Silent Phase of the B2B Buyer Journey?
The silent phase refers to the earliest stretch of the B2B buyer journey, when decision-makers are independently researching and evaluating solutions from a distance. They’re not clicking CTAs or talking to sales. But they are forming opinions about which brands are trustworthy, credible, and worth shortlisting.
Buyer behaviors in this phase are subtle: consuming thought leadership, attending webinars, exploring review sites, watching videos, and conducting keyword searches anonymously or in incognito mode. It’s when buyers begin shaping their solution criteria before vendors even know they’re in play.
This is where forward-thinking marketers can make a lasting impression.
Why Traditional Lead Gen Leaves You Behind
Traditional B2B marketing strategies are designed to capture leads, not create demand. The entire model is centered around hand-raisers: people who download a whitepaper, request a demo, or sign up for a webinar.
But if you’re only showing up at the point of conversion, you’re too late.
Here’s where traditional tactics fall short:
- Gated content creates friction instead of value
- Cold outreach often interrupts rather than educates
- Lead-scoring models miss anonymous high-intent behaviors
- CRM visibility doesn’t capture most early-stage research
And when marketing is laser-focused on MQLs, the silent majority slips through the cracks.
To engage modern B2B buyers, we need a shift in mindset from capturing demand to creating it.
How to Engage Early-Stage Leads Without Pushing the Pitch
The key to silent phase marketing is creating a consistent, valuable presence without pushing a sales pitch.
Start by showing up where your buyers spend time when they’re not in buying mode, like LinkedIn, podcasts, organic search, and industry media. This is not about pushing your brand. It's about building familiarity and offering insight when your buyers are exploring problems, not vendors.
Instead of focusing on gated assets or sales enablement content, shift your investment toward non-conversion content:
- Ungated guides and toolkits
- Educational blog series
- Short videos and expert interviews
- Research reports and benchmarks
Tools like 6sense and Bombora can give you visibility into anonymous account behavior, so you can start tailoring content to the right stage of interest, even when names and emails aren’t attached.
And remember: most buying journeys involve more than one stakeholder. Optimize your digital presence to support multi-touch, cross-functional engagement, designing journeys for researchers, influencers, and decision-makers alike.
Content That Earns Trust Before the First Click
During the silent phase, content’s job is to build trust.
Buyers aren’t ready for product pitches. They’re looking for clarity, perspective, and relevance. That’s why thought leadership tends to outperform flashy CTAs or conversion copy.
If you’re not sure where to start, think about the questions your buyers are asking in the earliest stages. What trends are shaping their industry? What problems are they trying to solve? What does a successful outcome look like for them? Then create content that speaks to those needs.
Here’s the type of content that earns attention—and trust—before buyers go active:
- Industry insights and POVs: What’s changing and why it matters
- Peer perspectives: Customer stories, interviews, and panels
- Frameworks and playbooks: Real-world how-tos
- Comparison and solution guides: Content that helps buyers self-educate
Remember that format matters:
- LinkedIn carousels with punchy insights
- Snackable videos and quote cards
- Ungated toolkits and templates
- Podcast conversations with customers or SMEs
Tone matters, too. Keep the tone educational, transparent, and non-salesy. You’re helping, not selling.
Rethinking Metrics: How to Measure the Impact of Silent Phase Marketing
Engaging early-stage buyers means moving beyond traditional form fills and MQL dashboards. You’re playing a long game, so the signals of success are more nuanced.
Look for patterns in return visits, longer time on site, deeper content engagement, and rising brand search volume. These leading indicators suggest that your presence is resonating, even if buyers aren’t ready to raise their hands.
Intent data platforms can help you track anonymous account activity over time, providing visibility into which companies are warming up, even if you don’t have named leads.
Key metrics to track include:
- Time on site and content depth
- Return visits and repeat engagement
- Brand search volume, a leading indicator of awareness
- Account-level intent spikes, via platforms like 6sense
- Influenced pipeline, even if attribution is multi-touch
Use attribution modeling to understand how early content contributes to later conversions. And make sure sales knows why some buyers come in “hot”—they’ve likely been silently engaged for weeks or months.
The Bottom Line: It’s Time to Show Up Sooner
The modern B2B buyer journey starts well before the first form fill. If your marketing strategy only kicks in after the hand-raise, you’re missing the moment when trust is built, preferences are shaped, and winners are quietly chosen.
To win during the silent phase, brands must embrace a new mindset focused less on conversion and more on connection. Early-stage lead engagement isn’t about accelerating the funnel, it’s about earning your place in it.
The sooner you show up with value, the more likely you are to be remembered when the time comes to buy.
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